Thursday, June 11, 2009

UMNO VICE PRESIDENTS PAY HOMAGE TO LEE KUAN YEW?

Two of my most admired personalities other than Tun Dr Mahathir; A young Lee Kuan Yew and Abdul Hamid Jumat of Singapore in this 2 June, 1958 file picture.

Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Dato Sri Hishammuddin Hussein, and Datuk Seri Shafie Afdal were reported in the Malaysian Insider to have altogether paid a courtesy call on Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. All three Ministers are Vice Presidents of UMNO.

Granted, the meeting was also with other officials who accompanied LKY on his official visit but why did our Ministers have to go to them at the Mandarin Oriental? Why couldn’t the meeting be at the conference room in the PM’s Department at Putrajaya? If indeed it was just a courtesy call and not an official one, why did it happen to be by three Ministers who are apparently also UMNO Vice Presidents? If Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong were to come, would he be accorded the same courtesy by our UMNO Vice Presidents? Have we officially recognized the position of a Minister Mentor while we don’t have one here?

Have the three UMNO Vice Presidents paid a courtesy call on the Tun at the Perdana Leadership Foundation for “45 minutes of advice and candor” ever since their victory to show their respect for the man who had shaped our Nation into being the fastest developing country in the world besides making UMNO a fully respected political party?

Whose idea was it that all three of them had to meet LKY? What was the reason behind it? Yes you may say that this posting is full of questions but isn’t it too coincidental just to be a matter of fact?

If we are doing it because LKY is a friend of the ruling government, then why, according to the same report in http://m.themalaysianinsider.com/articles.php?id=29162-young-leaders-welcome-lees-visit is he meeting with the opposition as well? When any of our officials go to Singapore, do you think he’d dare pay a courtesy call on the opposition party leader? Would he be accorded the same courtesy we are giving to LKY, i.e. providing police escort complete with sirens to meet with the opposition? We’re being thumbed in the nose and thanking him for it at the same time. This doesn’t send a good signal to the ground.

If anything, I hope at least these three stooges who are humble to the extent of being obedient LKY protégé wannabes, learnt 3 things from the Statesman whom I too admire as a leader in his own City State. They are:

1. How to make the minorities behave themselves, while taking pride and feeling like it’s a privilege in doing so.

2. How to deal with the opposition, i.e. bankrupt their backsides till they are left with only their singlets and shorts having lost their wives and family because of the same, and not being able to drive in posh vehicles to by-election campaigns.

3. How to control the Courts to the extent that it is more painful to go through the judicial process than to be stuffed under the I.S.A. making the latter available but insignificant.

Now if these UMNO Vice Presidents came out of the Mandarin Oriental having learnt all that during their courtesy call with my model politician, LKY, than I’d say it was a very good meeting indeed and hope that Mr Lee Kuan Yew would return to Malaysia on a follow up visit very soon.

I also think you'll get a lot of bashing from your followers for declaring your admiration for LKY.

Your provocative questions will make a lot of people think - I just can't wait for them to suggest some answers. The grand old Tun has provided his-"M'sian politicians don't know much that's why we have to learn from LKY".

I'm imagining one of the VPs in the towel wrapped across his breast..I mean chest with an orchid (Singapore's official flower) stuck behind one ear. No prizes for the right answer but his initials = the scientific name for water. LOL!

Don't worry, my followers know where I'm coming from. I despise LKY for his stand towards Malaysia but admire him for the way he rules with an iron fist in Singapore. This is how we should have led this country. We have much to learn from him if we stubbornly refuse to lead by Tun Dr Mahathir's example.

You are absolutely right about Lee Kuan Yew only meeting his equal which explains why he preferred to avoid meeting Tun Dr Mahathir who is far superior than him in mind, body and soul at this point in time.

Yes, all three of the VPs wasted his time and I'm sure they also needed an interpreter to communicate with him. They probably got KJ to do that.

I think if LKY wants to give moral support to Najib's leadership, he need just meet Najib and his Cabinet at a more appropriate venue, ie Putrajaya. He needn't go out of his way to meet the opposition leaders unless he wants them to stand down if indeed he supports Najib.

He needn't meet Rosmah to measure her up to see how much of an influence/control she has over Najib and the Government of the day.

It is through wisdom and 40 years of experience being his closest neighbour and listening to almost all his speeches on the Singapore Channel that qualifies me to be sceptical about LKY's agenda.

Giving the benefit of the doubt to a known multiple saboteur is surely not very wise now is it Sir?

Singapore takes care of Singapore. All else is a waste of their time and money.

They do not make any move without first calculating what damage they can do unto others and benefit from it at the same time. Let's stroll down memory lane and reflect on how they outrageously raised interest rates for fixed deposits inducing our rich to move their liquidity to Singapore leaving us dry during the Asian Financial crisis. If it were not for Tun Dr Mahahthir's unorthodox method, Malaysia would have had to stay deep in the woods for much longer than perhaps Indonesia.

Thank you for your views Old Chap. No matter how we differ in the way we look at the situation, your point is nonetheless registered.

The American presidency have not managed to find the solution to the Israeli - Palestinian issue for the past 60 years. Even with the current Black/White president Obama i don't foresee him settling the dispute during his 4 year tenure plus another 4 years, if he wins reelection. Just the same, I don't see the dispute between Malaysia - Singapore ever being solved despite using all kind of diplomacy (including golf diplomacy!) And i thought we had intelligent politicians from both sides of the causeway who can solve these thorny issues. I think it has been 15 years since they began talking about solving these issues: 1. Causeway 2. Tanjung Pagar (railway station) 3. Airspace (for S'pore airforce usage) 4. Water 5. Sand 6. CPF (S'pore's EPF).Not one of these issues have been solved despite the fact that 'grand old man' has made two official visits to Peninsular Malaya befitting a Head of State. From what i heard from Wisma Putra if not for the meddling by Mr D some of the issues would have been settled during Mahathir's time. Mr D wanted his cronies to jointly develope Tanjung Pagar with the S'pore GLC and in the process of doing so he compromised our standing on the other issues. Hence our officials had to stall the negotiations.As for the 'three umno stooges'...well what more can you say...they are just that. 'Muka tak malu, pipi tersorong'. Kuan Yew never had them on his agenda. He had all the MCA & Gerakan hierarchy and the Opposition in his appointment book but not the stooges. Oh by the way, can you check if he met any Indian party...Hindraf, MIC, PPP or IPF?Don't blame Kuan Yew for getting VVIP treatment or being able to meet the Opposition. He is accorded this treatment by virtue of the PM's Office (or is it the 4th floor boys...their remnants still exist), if not he wouldn't have the cheek to meet the opposition members.Least but not last, i hope Kuan Yew noticed that during his visits to Penang & Selangor the surrounding developments he sees in these two states was done under the tenure of the Pakatan Rakyat and not BN or Alliance. Just imagine they even built the Penang Bridge in 15 months which even S'pore can't do! Perhaps Kuan Yew can learn something here!Lastly, for your info current Umno has taken over from DAP as the extension of PAP in Malaysia, much to the chagrin of Lim Kit Siang! Well done Harry, Tunku and Syed Jaafar Albar are 'turning in their graves'!P.S. Wait for LKY's next book on his experience regarding his recent visit to 'Beautifool' Malaysia. The three stooges will be tongue tied whilst the opposition members will be laughing all the way to Putra Jaya in 2013!* Good article....you seem to have a 'love hate' relationship with S'pore & LKY!

If we can't even get the CPF to be returned to the Malaysian workers who've ended their tour of duty in Singapore, it'd be silly if our leaders even dream of negotiating other more difficult deals with them.

I love LKY's style of management and leadership but hate the way our leaders barring Tun Dr Mahathir are being slapped around like a skinny faggart in a school backyard by him.

The best way to deal with Singapore is to let things remain in status quo because being a nation with no natural resources, the only thing they are after is holding equity in companies that have a hold on natural resources in our country. They don't need natural resources when they can buy equity on utility companies and the sort the world over and have some form of control in the world economy. That is how the Jews maintain their influence on Washington.

Likewise, Singapore too would be embarking in such an endeavour in the corporate sector to eventually have a substantial influence over our so called "Big Boys" in the corridors of power.

Even now, we have disgustingly witnessed how the UMNO Vice Presidents kowtowed to him at the Mandarin Oriental, perhaps to make it easier for our leader to explain why LKY is allowed to see members of the opposition. As anticipated when asked the question, the answer was that he has come to see everyone not just the opposition. The thing is, LKY took the trouble of going to see the opposition leaders (Only Chinese based of course) while his Malay servants in KL who are supposedly the VPs in UMNO went TO him.

There WON'T ever be a win-win situation when we are up against Singapore because any deal that they approve must ensure that they have an upper hand in it. Anyone who beleives we can have an equal advantage when signing an agreement with them is a fool.

That is why Dr Mahathir opted to go ahead with the bridge on our side even if it had minor legal issues. If they went to war over a lousy bridge, who do you think would eventually be the biggest loser having to start from scratch with nothing but a rigid law imposed upon their citizens?

No I beleive LKY didn't see the members from the Indian political parties, just the Chinese based and the three stooges. While he was brave to see only the Chinese based political parties here, our leader who was on an official visit to Singapore last month I'm sure didn't even dare to meet with the Malays' Association of Singapore that was an extention of the defunct Singapore UMNO, currently known as the PEKEMAS (Persatuan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura).

Reading through your posting,I can summarize that the three VP’s should show more class and not acting like desperados and you TPJ have a “love hate but respect” relationship with LKY.

Maybe it’s UMNO leaders culture to give a humble courtesy call to outside leaders to the extend of going to meet in LKY’s hotel instead the other way round.

They rather than spend their precious time,put off their busy schedule to meet LKY than spending 30 minutes with our own legend Tun Dr M who is probably the only person in M’sia who is a class above LKY

Having said that, I do hope at least the 3 VP’s will learn and get tips from LKY on how to handle and overcome some ungrateful people in the country who thinks they are above the law and can say or do whatever they want.

Look at how LKY regimented its citizens. Freedom of speech? Not in Spore..Try it if u dare.I.S.A? I think they have it too over there.Their citizens don’t dare to make much noise because of the strict enforcement when someone try to instigate hatred against the government and try to raise racial tension.One opposition leader in S’pore died as a bankrupt for not being able to pay lawsuit fines.

I bet M’sians entering Spore will also not dare to break any of the rules there.Go and Google about the case of an 18 year old American who was canned 6 times for spray-painting cars.Drug offenders will be punished with lightning speed in S’pore.

We can also learn from Singapore on good public transport , public safety, pedestrian walkways and cleanliness but not on things like being KIASU and looking down to other people.

LKY’s recent comments on Penang’s infrastructure that he described was not as good as that of Ipoh and Seremban is another example on his nugget of an observation.Let see where it goes from here and I believe in the end, it will benefit Penang as our beloved UMNO leaders will definitely give something to Penang to rectify the situation.

I can see more RM pouring in to a state under strong opposition hold.

Having say all that,LKY’s achievement in making S'pore a respectable country is something that we should emulate.On his visit to Malaysia, there is more than meet the eyes.Only god knows what it’s all about

Yes the 3 VPs did us injustice by going to see Mr Lee. Even if it was out of courtesy, it came out looking like it was out of obedience instead.

SFSO, Singapore's administration is perfect though not entirely corruption and nepotism free. They have minimal drug problems because their enforcement is impeccable, no Mat Rempits because they'd probably have to face the whip. Need I continue?

Now if the 3 VPs actually learnt how to deal with this and how to improve the transport system like you suggested when they met LKY instead of asking him about the weather in Singapore, then we would benefit from their call.